The exhibition “Hugo van der Goes: Between Bliss and Pain” at Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie gathers most of the artist’s surviving paintings and drawings for the first time since Hugo van der Goes’s death 540 years ago. This exhibit is an outstanding feat due to the rarity of surviving works, as well as their frequently large format.
Van der Goes was the most important Netherlandish painter in the latter part of the 15th century—especially notable for monumental altarpieces with strong colors, astounding realism, and sensitive, expressive portrayals of emotion.
Little is known about Hugo van der Goes’s life as a burgeoning artist. His work shows a strong influence and affiliation with the oeuvre of the Brussels master Rogier van der Weyden, a highly influential painter in his time. Scholars theorize van der Goes may have trained in his workshop. An important van der Weyden work included in the exhibition, which is part of the Gemäldegalerie’s collection, is the triptych “Middelburg Altarpiece.” The notable formatting of the central group of figures around Mary and Christ was a model for a number of artists, including one of van der Goes’s monumental altarpieces illustrating the Nativity….